Isaiah 21:5
Verse 5 of 17. The 21st of 66 chapters in Isaiah, in The Major Prophets.
1The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through; so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land.
2A grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam: besiege, O Media; all the sighing thereof have I made to cease.
3Therefore are my loins filled with pain: pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth: I was bowed down at the hearing of it; I was dismayed at the seeing of it.
4My heart panted, fearfulness affrighted me: the night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me.
5Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield.
6For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth.
7And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels; and he hearkened diligently with much heed:
8And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights:
9And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground.
Isaiah 21:5 in the World English Bible
They prepare the table. They set the watch. They eat. They drink. Rise up, you princes, oil the shield!Read Isaiah 21:5 in the WEB
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 21:5
A representation of the posture in which Babylon should be found when the enemy should surprise it—all in festival gaiety (v. 5): "Prepare the table with all manner of dainties. Set the guards; let them watch in the watch-tower while we eat and drink securely and make merry; and, if any alarm should be given, the princes shall arise and anoint the shield, and be in readiness to give the enemy a warm reception."
Read Matthew Henry on Isaiah 21:1–10: The Doom of Babylon. (b. c. 714.)
Pray Isaiah 21:5 with someone reading it aloud.
Start praying with Pray.comKing James Version. Public domain. Set as prose throughout, including the poetry, because the text is published to us without its lines.